'Stranger Things' Season 3 Is Further Along Than You Think

It's been a busy start to 2018 for the cast of Stranger Things, and they haven't even started shooting season three yet. From partying at the Golden Globes to dominating the carpet at the SAG Awards, the cast has been celebrating their season-two success before they return to Hawkins, Indiana, this spring.

They've certainly earned the break—once filming begins, it'll be nonstop work until the show returns in late 2018 or early 2019. "If we could make it [return] faster, then we would," executive producer Shawn Levy explains. "But we're going to make it well. We're going to do it right." The good news is that the Duffer Brothers and Levy have already planned out all of the story lines for season three. "We're there," Levy tells us. "It'll be an eight- or nine-episode season. The number of episodes will be dictated by the amount of story that excites us. We now know what is going to happen in season three to every character." Now that the season's storyline is worked out, they're in the process of figuring out the specific details of each scene in each episode.

While Levy is hesitant to reveal more beyond that, he will say that Will Byers is in need of a break after last season's trauma from the aftermath of the Upside Down. "We're going to give Will a break," he says. "We’re not going to put Will through hell for a third season in a row. He’ll be dealing with stuff, but he won’t be at rock bottom the way we forced the amazing Noah Schnapp to play.” Of course, after battling the Shadow Monster one would assume Dustin or Hopper might be next in line to suffer the consequences. "You might assume that," Levy teases, "but you would probably end up being wrong. We're [going to be] dealing with forces of evil that are new."

Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix

Still, not everything will completely change heading into season three. After last year's surprising—but welcome!—friendship between Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Steve (Joe Keery), Levy says you'll definitely "get some Steve/Dustin action." As for Matarazzo, he hopes there will be more light-hearted scenes with Steve and Dustin in season three, though he also wants to see their relationship evolve. "In season two, it was all very cute and there was a funny factor to it because it was unexpected, but now that it is expected, I want to see them connect more and be more familiar with each other," he says. "I want them to have a connection like they’ve really had a connection for a year—like they’re brothers." Matarazzo points out that Dustin doesn’t have a brother and his father is gone, so Dustin wants an older male figure in his life to look up to. "He’s never had that, so I feel like Steve is definitely someone in that sense who could be that person to him.”

And just as Dustin's relationship with Steve will mature, could rebel Billy be the instigator for a more sexually liberated Mrs. Wheeler next season? "There was clearly a connection there," Levy says. "Karen has some unhappiness that is brewing. I think that makes her vulnerable to all kinds of things in season three.” Perhaps those new "forces of evil" that Levy referred to earlier?

One thing still TBD is the future of Paul Reiser's Dr. Owens, who managed to survive the chaos that engulfed Hawkins Lab at the end of season two. Levy says they're "not commenting" on Reiser's possible return, mainly because "I don't have a clear-cut answer for you yet." In other words, stay tuned.